When a dog bares its teeth to another dopg, it is sign of aggression. When a child bares its teeth to said dog, it is sign of aggression ( to the dog) a smiling child can be serously injured or killed simply because they were coming toward the dog, with mouth in a laughing gesture. Dogs can't tell that a human is laughing. They ony see a threat when teeth are bared. Pit bulls act on that aggression much more quickly than other breeds.

I don't know about the teeth thing. When I'm laughing or smiling, Mollie comes and licks my mouth. Thats not aggressive. My friend has a 5 year old that loves my dogs. She'll play ball with Mollie and when she tries to take the ball away Mollie growls (like playin tug), the little girl will then growl at Mollie and show her teeth like she was a dog. Mollie will drop the ball, which makes the girl laugh, then Mollie will lick the inside of her mouth, making her laugh even harder. I personally think dogs can tell the difference between a human and another dog.

The obvious difference is that those smaller breeds are rather less likely to critically injure or kill somebody. They are much easier to control, and when they do bite they are generally not capable of inflicting nearly the same level of damage.

A small Pomeranian dog killed a 6-week-old baby while the infant's caretaker briefly left the child unattended to warm a bottle of milk, authorities in Los Angeles said.

The relative, who was caring for the infant girl, found her head buried in the dog's mouth Saturday night, sheriff's Deputy Cruz Solis said. The girl died of head trauma at an area hospital, he said.

Certainly tho, there will be no ban on Poms, as little dogs are not as able to kill or inflict this much damage. (insert obligatory eye roll here)

A dog is a dog. In therapy class, they tell us ANY dog can bite. (Stitch bit me once when she wasnt feeling good, and it was a rude awakening for me, for sure....but one can never say their dog will not bite ever.)

My dogs are constantly confused with pit bulls, of which they are not.

Stitch loves other dogs.

Lilo can tolerate them.

Nani doesnt like other dogs at all, except the ones in our family.

All dogs are different.

Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one. Bruce Lee

i love pit bulls,i think it is to hard to own one,you cant catch a break.last night boyfriend was walking our 9month old rottweiler brutus and hes big for his age but hes just a goofball.lady was on same street walking her jrt and as soon as she turned the corner she ran like a bat out of h@ll,so my boyfriend is like looking over his shoulder thinking theres something there.he felt horrible thinking he scared alady because of brutus.sorry should not say cause of brutus,she doesnt know my dog,cause of the breed.

i have 2 boston terriers .. way smaller than most and they are the sweetest most affectionate dogs you will ever come across but they have teeth, they could potentially bite. you never know what can trigger a dogs natural instinct to protect himself. people always walk up and say aww he's sooo cute .. does he bite? i NEVER say no, i never allow strangers to pet him outside and i never allow small children to walk up and touch valentino especially in his face. and when children do want to pet and touch him i supervise him and always am aware of his mouth. i know in my heart that he wouldn't harm a fly but you know what .. not even i know for sure that he couldn't. something else too .. i have loved and cared for him since he was a teeny tiny baby. he never showed any aggression and then this one time when he was around 5 months old he was attacked by 2 very large dogs. i will not be breed specific(not pitts) because it could have been any breed it just so happened to be these 2 dogs. in an effort to protect this tiny little bundle i scooped him up in my arms and these 2 dogs when straight for me. my arms and my face especially. i wasn't terribly hurt, more like shaken but valentino never recovered. what caused them to come at him they way they did. he was just minding his own buisness. they didn't seem like agressive dogs, why would they want to hurt a puppy? you never know. from that day on he has been afraid of all dogs. even my 3 lb chihuhua. as he got older he showed serious signs of dog aggression which was understandable and got into a really terrible fight with another male that was very bad for valentino. i have been working with him and a trainer for about 2 years now and nothing seems to help. the point is you never know what it is that has the dog scared .. aggressive even. it's not always a bad owner. usually is but not always. also pittbulls are known for being fighting dogs and aggressive. we all know this and that's why people tense up and the dog can sense this. dogs can feel our fear. that could be a big part of it, why they attack. i also heard that they are the only dogs that have lock jaw making them doubley dangerous. is that true?

Difference being Kiyote, you really don't hear about EVERY single dog attack in the news. Does that mean that a Pomeranian has not attacked a person in the last seven years? I doubt it. I know that unless it is terribly viscious (like TM's story), the only attack that I ever hear about are the "pitbull attacks." Half the time they are not even an APBT. Whatever makes headlines and gets people talking is what they will publish. I doubt that if a Golden Retriever attacked a person it would be splashed all over the news. Make it a pitbull and everyone pays attention.

I lIVE IN DETROIT MICHIGAN, AND ALL I EVER HEAR ON THE NEWS IN THE PAPERS IS PITBULL BITES A CHILD, PITBULL KILLS, PITBULL FIGHTS ANOTHER DOG, ITS ANNOYING!!! WHY ARE THEY KNOWN FOR SUCH "" BAD"" DOGS, CAUSE WE THE PEOPLE FORGET TO SEAT BACK AND REMEMBER EVEN FISH KILL OTHERS INSIDE THERE TANK! WE FORGOT TO SIT BACK AND REMEMEBR THE DOG FOLLOWS THE OWNERS RULES, SO MAYBE ITS THE OWNER WHO SHOULD BE PUNISHED FOR MAKIN THE DOG A FIGHTER!! THEY AREN'T BORN TO KILL, THEY AREN'T BAD DOGS, ANY DOG CAN FIGHT AND DOG ANY BITE, ANY DOG AN CAN KILL!!!!I'VE SEEN PEOPLE WHO HAVE KIDS AND HAVE THESE DOGS AS FAMILY"" YES THE KEYWORD FAMILY, SEE YOU NEVER READ IN THE PAPER, OWNER BEEN IN TROUBLE BEFORE FOR FIGHTING THE DOG, IT'S SAD THAT PEOPLE JUST READ/ OR HEAR, AND BELIEVE.... SUCH JUGDEMENTAL. WHAT I DONT UNDERSTAND IS, SINCE WE ALL KNOW ANY DOG OR ANIMAL CAN HURT SOMEONE, WHY IS IT THAT THE ONLY TIME WE HEAR ANYTHING IS WHEN IT'S A PITBULL?? WHY DONT THEY WRITE IN THE PAPER ABOUT A LAB, HUSKY, POM, ANYTHING PINCHER?? BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE TO BLIND TO OPEN THERE EYES AND STOP BEING SO JUDGEMENT AND REALIZE, ANY ANIMAL RAISED BY ANY SORT OF NORMAL HUMAN CAN BITE, EVEN THOSE SO CALLED LOOKING HARMLESS FISH SWINGING AROUND IN YOUR TANK......

Cass, as a lab owner I couldn't let that pass without comment. I work with people who live in the country, and all four other women have acreage and dogs with aggression issues. One has pits, one has blue heelers, one has rottweilers, one has German shepherds. All say they wouldn't have a lab because they're "too friendly," "too eager to please," and "useless" for purposes of home protection. They chose the breeds they chose not because they'd be good family pets (though some of these dogs are in fact beloved family pets), but because of their reputation as guardians. And now they have to deal with the way their dogs react to visitors, other peoples' kids, and other peoples' pets. They didn't train their dogs to be aggressive -- they just are. I didn't train my lab not to be aggressive -- she just isn't.

Sure, it's possible for a lab to bite, to have an aggressive personality. But there's a reason labs have the reputation they have. There's a reason my co-workers have concluded a lab would be "too friendly" for their purposes in keeping a dog. Isn't there a reason pits have the reputation they have?

I suppose it depends how you look at it. I can't blame the dog for the reputation, because it is not their fault. Pitbulls were bred to be companions to humans. They were never meant to show aggression to people. But people got ahold of the breed and messed it up. I feel as if they were given the reputation unfairly.

I don't blame a hyena for its reputation either, but I wouldn't try to keep keep one. Not that I'm equating them with pitbulls, and hyenas are remarkable animals themselves.

When you say that people got hold of the breed and messed it up, isn't that the same as saying that it's now a messed-up breed (or family of related breeds)? Which is way more than I was saying, if I'm not misreading you.

Like most terriers, including pitbulls, one of the traits are they become highly aroused. And when they're in this agitated state they often have little control over their behavior unless they're trained to overcome their impulses. Most of it is redirected aggression. I've seen jack russels turn on each other when the door bell rings and they get excited.

In the case of Kiyote's newest horror story I still say it's all about incompetent dog owners.

You entirely misread what I was saying. I should have been more specific. Many pitbulls are bred for the wrong reasons. The entire breed is not messed up, but a large number of these "vicious" pits are that way because they were either bred wrong, mistreated or owned by stupid people.

Last time I was in Portland (Or), I met a pitbull that was probably misbred, mistreated, used for fighting, and previously owned by an idiot. And she was completely turned around by a man who rescued her and brought her back into the light. That dog's a pure joy to be around. Her owner's a rare one, and I know my own limits too well to think I could do the same, even as a puppy's first owner. Any strong breed would get the better of me, and I don't trust myself to get it to the point of being safe to be around. People like me should definitely go for the labs.

Oh I don't disagree with you on that. I know that as much as I like pitbulls, I myself would also do better with a different breed. I am not yet experienced enough to own a pitbull. I suppose that is why I chose a golden retriever.